1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to printer-related software and, more particularly, to a method for temporarily disabling print job language (PJL) commands in a print job.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most print-ready files today contain some form of PJL commands. These commands are typically generated by print drivers and attached to the print data prior to the print data being sent to a multifunctional peripheral (MFP) or printer. PJL commands add job level controls, such as printer language switching, job separation, environment, status readback, device attendance, and file system commands. PJL commands typically reside above all the other printer languages, and are the first to be parsed when a print job is processed. Although PJL commands are fairly common and supported by most MFPs and printers, there are many applications that require the processing of raw print data, without the added PJL commands.
Print jobs sourced from an open operating system (OS) ideally should only include raw print data, with no PJL commands, to insure that the open OS print job settings are not overwritten by PJL commands internal to the print job. However, since many print-ready files already contain PJL commands, it becomes necessary to provide a method of stripping the PJL data from the original print content when using open OS applications to submit print jobs.
One method of stripping PJL commands from a print file is to use a utility to parse the original print file, identifying and extracting all PJL commands from the file. Although this procedure is generally done on the host computer before the print data is submitted to the MFP, it may also be done on the MFP after the entire file has been transferred to the MFP. However, there are several drawbacks to this method.
Removing PJL commands from the original print file is an invasive procedure. Because the original print content is modified, the integrity of the print data is compromised. This print content modification may be undesirable for security-sensitive print files. Parsing the entire print file to extract PJL commands adds undesirable overhead to the print performance. Further, the parsing can only be done after the entire file has been received, which adds delay and overhead to the printing process.
It would be advantageous if a printer could temporarily ignore PJL commands in selected printed jobs.